In Which Each Nation Has A Wish
by S'moreo
Summary: "It does not matter who, or what you are." Staring at the nation in front of her, Yuko's red eyes were strong and unwavering. "You came here because you have a wish, and I can grant it."
1. The Prologue

Rating; PG/PG-13  
Pairing; You'll have to keep reading to find out!  
Genre; Crack, humor, romance  
Warnings; Mentions of a drunk party, a sneaky pipe-fox, Mokona kisses, and abuse of a certain part-timer.  
Summary; Just another 'normal' day at Yuko's shop.  
...For now.

"Yuko-san…" It was a slow exhaling of the name as Watanuki looked to said person as calmly as he could.

"What is it, Watanuki?" Yuko stared back at him with her venetian red eyes, and although they seemed cool and calm to most, Watanuki knew better. He saw that her eyes were practically_dancing_ with amusement underneath.

"Why is the shop looking like the aftermath of a party of drunks…" Here, he took a sharp intake of breath, before all of that air came soaring out like a tornado.

"WHEN I ONLY JUST CLEANED IT YESTERDAY!" Voice rising in pitch and sound, his long arms extended forward to claw (at least, that's what it looked like from anyone else's point of view) at the empty air in front of him.

"Why, Watanuki you silly boy. Of course there was a party!"

"THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT!" Flailing his arms in a manner which made it seem as though he were victim to a seizure, Yuko looked on calmly, sipping from her alcohol with a small sly smile.

"Calm down," She said, setting the ochoko₁ down. "You'll wear yourself out before you even begin your job, and we wouldn't want that now would we?"

"You mean you _actually_ expect me to clean all THIS," He motioned wildly to, well, everything. "AND cook you your meals!"

"You're catching on, Watanuki! You're so smart!" As if to annoy the part-timer more, she began clapping in glee.

Nearby, nearly in the background but loud enough so that they could be heard without a problem, Maru and Moru crowed; "Watanuki's smart! Watanuki's smart!"

"YOU ARE SO UNREASONABLE!" Nearly giving himself an aneurysm, Watanuki was so indulged in his wild movements that he failed to notice a long, slender blur of white dart towards him until he felt it quickly slither up the bottom of his school uniform's shirt, along his back and coil around the base of his neck.

"HIIIIII – _GYAAAHHHHH_!"

Goosebumps rose all over his skin where his hairs were, and he shivered as his arms scrabbled to his back, his body only now catching up with the pipe-fox's previous movements.

"_Must_ you do that?" He asked, pouting (although he would stubbornly argue he wasn't if commented on) at Mugetsu.

Its only response was to lay a dozen kisses upon his cheek.

"Heeeeey! Mokona wants a kiss too!"

Before Watanuki even had the chance to respond - let alone react - he found that the world had abruptly gone black.

There was only one reaction that processed through and was accepted in his mind.

Panic.

"A-AAHHH WHAT'S HAPPENING!" He yelled, his feet awkwardly moving across the floor as he became disoriented from the loss of vision.

It was no surprise that he eventually ended up tripping himself over a table and falling to the floor like a sack of potatoes.

"Hahahaha!" Suddenly, it became clear. Both literal, and non-literal. The teenager could now see, and see he did. He saw a blob of black. A blob of black that would soon become their dinner.

"MO-KO-NAAAAA!" Watanuki screeched as the black manjuu detached itself from his face.

Mokona only laughed again.

"You won't be laughing once I'm done with you! You just made this room even more of a mess! Of course it doesn't matter to you since you won't be cleaning it up BUT IT SURE AS HELL MATTERS TO ME!"

"Watanuki looks angry!" Mokona exclaimed, snickering as he bounced on Watanuki's head and promptly jumping off before the seer could grab him.

"Angry! Angry! Watanuki's angry!" Maru and Moro echoed beside them.

"DAMN RIGHT I'M ANGRY!" He screeched, scrambling after Mokona.

During the duration of this…display, Yuko had gone uncharacteristically quiet (she didn't even put in one word at Watanuki's amusing movements even though she was one of the main people who put her two cents in about them), staring at the shoji doors₂ in the room ahead.

Watanuki, of course, noticed (but not without a lot of yelling at a certain black manjuu before-hand) and blinked. "Yuko-san?" He asked, his silent question ringing, un-hidden in how he said her name.₃

Slowly, much to Watanuki's poor weary soul, she smiled. (That one smile that shows that she knows something. Or also known as the Let's-Stress-Watanuki-Out-To-The-Point-Of-Insanity-Because-We-Know-Something-He-Doesn't Smile.)

"It seems we have a customer."

1. Ochoko; cups used for drinking sake. They're usually small and cylindrical but can also be formed into flatter shapes resembling wide-mouthed bowls.

2. Shoji doors; a typical door, window, or room divider in Japan. It's made of translucent paper over a frame of wood which holds together a sort of grid of wood or bamboo.

3. Watanuki, of course, noticed (but not without a lot of yelling at a certain black manjuu before-hand) and blinked. "Yuko-san?" He asked, his silent question ringing, un-hidden in how he said her name; In case you didn't get it, the silent question was one of curiosity and slight concern (not the oh-my-god-are-you-ok? But what's-wrong?).


	2. Chapter 1 Part 1, America's Wish

**In Which Each Nation Has A Wish**

_Oo1.5; America_

"What? A visitor at this hour?" It wasn't as though it hadn't happened before, but still the occurrence was rare.

"Maru, Moro, get the door please."

"Okay!" Simultaneously smiling and raising opposite hands in the air, the two young girls quickly skittered off to the entrance to greet the new guest.

"Watanuki," Head snapping up to meet Yuko's gaze, Watanuki immediately stood up straight and waited for the rest of her sentence. "Head to the kitchen and prepare some snacks, will you? Preferably ones that are sweet and soft. Western, to be exact!" Her face matched her cheery attitude.

"Say what?" Watanuki said in disbelief. "But what about the mess in here? We can't just let a complete stranger see a mess like _this_! And how am I supposed to make Western sweets anyway? I don't even know if I have the right ingredients!"

"I'm sure you'll figure something out." Giving her employee one of her well-known smiles₁, Watanuki got the hint and picked up some trash on the way out to lessen the mess (even though it wasn't by much).

"I guess I could make some cupcakes…" _It'll take some time though. I hope Yuko can wait that long…_

Sighing, Watanuki took out the milk, eggs, and flour, as well as the other ingredients needed to prepare vanilla cupcakes.

"Why does she even want sweets at this hour? I mean I know she gets hungry a lot but western sweets? Isn't it a little _too_ late for them? Sure they're desserts but…"

For the remainder of the next few minutes, he talked and hummed to himself. He had already adorned the apron and head-wrap on himself, and began pouring the home-made mix into the trays.

Looking over his shoulder and around him, Watanuki was amazed to find no one but himself in the kitchen.

At first he thought this was a little bit weird and unusual until he realized that _no one was in the kitchen but him._

_It's about time they respected me! Finally, no one to bother me while I cook and—_

"Oooohh, I smell cupcakes!"

"DAMNIT I SPOKE TOO SOOOOOOONNNN!"

Barely catching the flying ball of black, Watanuki gave Mokona a warning look.

"Unless you want these cupcakes to be ruined, I suggest you keep your stubby hands to yourself!"

"Watanuki's a meanie! Besides, these cupcakes are not for Mokona! They're for the guest! I was only checking to see if you hadn't burnt them!"

"Right, sure you were." Watanuki said sarcastically and returned to cleaning up before he did a double take. "Wait, for the guest?" Blinking, Watanuki tilted his head to the side. "Why would Yuko…"

It was time, the seer decided, to sneak a peek at what was happening.

Tip-toeing to the room Yuko and the guest occupied, Watanuki slowly slid the shoji door open a few centimeters to peer in.

"You're saying this is a _wish-granting shop?_" An amused voice asked, and Watanuki looked to the owner of the voice.

He had short hair; the color of golden wheat in the sun, and his eyes the color of the sky that encompassed that very sun, hidden by spectacles that would only be described as the clouds.

The man looked no older than himself if only by two or three years, but he still retained a slight childish look, as if he had never truly grown up.

Despite his appearance however, it was his eyes that kept Watanuki staring. They looked endless, as if he could drown in them and although they were bright and also childish, they looked…old, beneath that outer mask. As if he had seen many things people shouldn't have seen, experienced things that shouldn't be said.

It confused Watanuki.

"Yes. Your coming here was not by chance or coincidence. It was always meant to happen. It was inevitable."

There was a sudden laugh. It wasn't mocking but more so entertained and interested in a way. It was a laugh so light that it seemed to reverberate on the walls.

"I'm sorry, miss, but I can't bring myself to believe you. I was never one to believe in these things…"

That accent…He was American, wasn't he?

"My abilities are very much real, whether you believe them to be or not. My part-timer can vie for that."

Red eyes slid over to where Watanuki hid, serious but twinkling with masked amusement. "Isn't that right, Watanuki?"

Stumbling forward in surprise, said part-timer fell through the open space of the shoji, causing the doors to slide wider and let him fall yet once again.

"Oof!" Glaring at Mokona who laughed at his misfortune cheerily behind him, he was ready to stuffy the thing in one of the cupcakes and give it to Domeki the next day and see how they liked _that _when he was snapped out of his planning by that warm, light laugh again.

"This is your part-timer?" The man asked, smiling down at Watanuki and the bespectacled teenager felt himself blush in embarrassment at being discovered.

"Yes. He is also a customer of this shop."

"Oh, really?" The man's eyes became interested and twinkled as he tilted his head at Watanuki before outstretching his hand.

"It's nice to meet you, Watanuki! I'm Alfred!" Alfred's gaze lingered on Watanuki's eyes for a moment longer than he was supposed to, amazed at his different colored eyes but Watanuki didn't notice.

"It's nice to meet you, too, Alfred-san." Watanuki responded, shaking the man's hand politely. _Holy crap he's strong! _He thought with wide eyes.

"Ahaha, just call me Alfred." He winked, before blinking and looking confused. "What is it? Is there something on my face?"

"N-No. I just…-"

"He seems to be impressed with your strength, Alfred-_kun_."

_Huh?_ Watanuki looked over to Yuko. _Such close Honorifics so soon?_

"Ah, sorry." Rubbing the back of his head, Alfred gave a nervous, apologetic smile. "Sometimes I forget my own strength…"

"No, it's alright!" Shaking his head in reassurance, Watanuki gave Alfred a smile. "You didn't hurt me or anything."

"Oh, that's good." Giving the part-timer a grateful smile, he laughed again.

"So is it true?" Watanuki blinked, confused at Alfred's question. "Can she really grant, y'know, wishes?" The American asked, still sounding a bit skeptical and a bit…hopeful?

"Yeah, pretty much…" Watanuki replied, scratching his cheek.

"Of course," Yuko interrupted, leaning forward and causing Alfred's eyes to briefly flicker a little _lower_ past her face before his eyes were on hers again. "There is a price to pay."

Her voice and eyes were slightly cold, and before Alfred could ask what kind of price, she turned to Watanuki with a sly smirk. "What happened to those sweets I asked you to make?"

"OH DAMN! I FORGOT ABOUT THEM!" Quickly flying to his feet, Watanuki stumbled to grasp his footing and ran to the kitchen to save the cupcakes.

A few minutes later, a heavenly sweet smell wafted through the house, and Alfred gulped, trying his best not to drool.

Yuko pretended to not notice.

"Thankfully I got there in time. Most of the frosting was eaten by a certain _someone_ though!"

"Mokona isn't a someone, Mokona's a Mokona!"

"Wh-Wha—Mokona!" Watanuki yelped, trying not to trip and fall over as Mokona slammed into his back.

"…What's that?" Alfred asked, a deadpan look on his face.

"Huh? Oh, this is—"

"Mokona!" Hopping over to the curious and slightly weirded Alfred (while simultaneously ignoring Watanuki's outraged cries and famous art of flailing), Mokona reached out a stubby arm for him to shake.

"Uh, hi Mokona…" he greeted awkwardly.

_Is this some sort of demented bunny robot?_ He thought to himself.

"Japan sure has a lot of weird things…" He thought out loud.

Yuko pounced on his slip-up.

"How is our country, Alfred? Do tell, I haven't seen him in a while."

"W-What?" The American's eyes widened. "What're you-"

"It is no secret to me that beings such as you exist. Believe me, you are not the first I've met."

"But-"

"Believe me." With eyes as wise as his, Yuko stared before she grinned. "Now Watanuki, the wine!" She demanded, clapping her hands together and leaning her right cheek on them.

"WHAT? YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME! WINE AND CUPCAKES DON'T GO ALONG!"

"Sure they do! Wine goes with _everything_!"

"Yuko-san!" Watanuki whined.

"Be a good boy and fetch the wine before the time you've wasted adds onto your employment!"

"W-What! Oh—fine!" Stomping off angrily to the storeroom and grumbling under his breath, Yuko and Alfred were left alone.

The golden-haired male sighed and tried to ignore the addicting scent of the sweets laid in front of him.

Yuko's red eyes pierced him. "Aren't you going to try one? Watanuki made them especially for you when he heard you had come along!"

Truth be told, Alfred would have already inhaled the cupcakes the minute they were set in front of him, but…

"Actually," Tearing his gaze from the beautifully frosted cupcakes he could only describe as angels in disguise that were sent from heaven, he instead looked to Yuko.

"I…" He took a deep breath, gathering up his pride. "I have a wish…"

"Geez, that Yuko…" Gritting his teeth in aggravation, Watanuki browsed through the many wines in the room before his eyes settled on a certain bottle. "Aha! It's not perfect but it's the best there is here…"

Carefully pulling out the bottle of Cerdon-Bugey, he began to walk back towards the room.

When he returned, however, he found that Alfred was gone.

"What—"

"He had to leave." Watanuki looked over to the speaker; Yuko. She was lounging on the patio outside. "He said he's sorry for leaving without saying good-bye, and that it was fun meeting you."

"Oh…It was nice meeting him too.." Walking over to his mentor and setting the wine bottle beside her, the teenager caught sight of the cupcakes.

"Wait. I THOUGHT HE WAS GOING TO EAT THEM!"

"Who, him?" Yuko blinked, her expression nonchalant. "He can't. Whatever gave you that idea?"

Five. Four. Three. Two. One.

"THEN WHY DID YOU TELL ME TO MAKE THEM IN THE FIRST PLACE IF HE COULDN'T!"

"Because, it's exactly _why_ he can't eat them that I made you bake them."

"How does that make sense!"

Yuko sighed, leaning back and looking bored. "Pour me some of that wine, will you?"

Grudgingly doing as told (because really, he didn't have a choice unless he wanted something _terrible_ to happen to him), he expertly poured the bubbly pink wine into the wine glass.

"Well? Why did you have me make them?"

Bringing the cup to her lips, Yuko drank at a leisurely pace for once, obviously taking her sweet time if only to annoy her employee.

"I was testing his restraint." She stated simply, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"His restraint against a _cupcake?_"

"In a sense, yes. To be more precise; his restraint against junk food."

"…I don't get it. What does this have to do with anything?" Watanuki asked.

Sighing, Yuko sent Watanuki a look as if telling him he was really slow. "It has to do with _everything_ Watanuki."

Here, she lifted the glass, almost chugging the whole thing down at once. "Ah!" Letting out a content sound, Yuko lowered her glass. "That was good!" So she began to pour herself another glass.

"Please pace yourself," Watanuki murmured, even though he knew she wouldn't (if she even heard him at all). Then he returned to the matter at hand.

"So him restraining himself against junk food has to do with everything? What, does he want to lose weight or something?"

Yuko smiled. "Precisely. Good job, Watanuki! Cheers!" Raising her glass, she began to gulp the drink down again.

"You're kidding, right?" He said in disbelief.

"Now why would I tell you a lie?"

"But…_why_?"

"Because that is his wish." She stated, and from her tone it was clear that the subject of the conversation was over.

Silence took over as the two sat, and Watanuki clutched the circular tray closer to his chest.

"What is he?" He finally asked, blinking and looking up to Yuko. "A spirit?"

"No," setting her cup down, Yuko leveled a gaze at Watanuki. "Something far bigger. Quite literally, too." An amused smile found its way onto her face.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean," Her crimson eyes began dancing again, and Watanuki didn't feel too good all of a sudden. He just _knew_ that this was going to cost him.

"He's a nation."


	3. Chapter 1 Part 2, America's Wish

**In Which Each Nation Has A Wish**

_Chapter 1 (2/?); America's Wish_

"The embodiment of a nation?"

"Yeah…That's why Yuko-san told me. I don't get it, though. Isn't it a little impossible for him to be _land_ AND WHY AM I TELLING YOU THIS! I COULD HAVE BEEN HAVING LUNCH WITH HIMAWARI-CHAN AND TALKING WITH HER INSTEAD!"

"Kunogi has late lunch, remember?" Reaching over, Domeki plucked a rice ball from Watanuki's bento, earning him an indignant cry.

"I know that!" The seer yelled, and Domeki plugged his ears. "I just don't understand why _you're_ here!"

"You wanted to talk about this with someone, right?" The archer responded, his expressionless face looking over to the gawking boy.

"Yeah, but…"

"So he's land. It isn't as if it's the first weird thing you've encountered, right?"

"I guess…"

It was silent for a while, with only the sound of others downstairs chatting away and scattered footsteps.

"Croquettes."1

Watanuki turned to Domeki with a slightly annoyed face (he talked, how could he not get annoyed?). "What?"

"Croquettes." The archer repeated, setting his chopsticks down as he finished his bento. "Make croquettes tomorrow."

"WHAT DO I LOOK LIKE TO YOU, A SERVANT! I DON'T TAKE ORDERS FROM A BEADY EYED GUY LIKE YOU! WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE, O-" Right in the middle of his ranting (not that Domeki was listening, he had his fingers in his ears to prevent deafness from the close proximity), the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch.

Getting up and ignoring the heterochromatic boy's yelling on the steps, he began to walk down the flight of stairs. "Hurry up or you'll be late." Was all he said, leaving Watanuki to snarl and jab at nothing in particular with his windmill motions his arms made.

"I DON'T NEED YOU TO TELL ME THAT YOU JERK! YOU DON'T EVEN SAY THANKS FOR THE MEAL OR HELP ME CLEAN UP! STUPID USELESS OAF!"

"—And then I walked into class late because of _someone_!" He was snarling at the taller boy but Watanuki's mood did a complete 180 as Himawari laughed, causing him to swoon over her (mentally, of course!)

"You two are such good friends!"

"Whaaattt? With _him_?" The seer jabbed a thumb to the archer who looked bored (then again when didn't he?). "No way!"

The trio was heading off of school grounds, having decided to walk home together.

_It was only supposed to be Himawari-chan and I but this __**jerk**__ butted in as always! _

Glaring at the taller teen, Domeki looked over to him and stared. "You look stupid like that."

"WHY YOU-"

"Hahahaha!"

All three of them looked over with a surprised gaze (well, at least Watanuki and Himawari did, Domeki was as expressionless as ever) to the direction of which the laugh came from.

"Ah, Alfred-san!" Watanuki exclaimed, his surprise clear on his face and in his voice.

"Hey, Watanuki! And I told you, just call me Alfred! Ok?~" Winking, Alfred grinned widely.

"You know him?" Domeki asked as they walked over to where Alfred stood.

"Yeah, he's the guy I was telling you about." Turning his head forward to look up at Alfred, Watanuki became confused. "Uh, Alfred-s-Er, Alfred?" He asked.

"Yeah? What's up?" Still grinning his trademark grin, Alfred's hands were shoved in his pockets. He seemed a bit different than he did yesterday.

"Not to be rude, but…Why are you here?"

"Huh? Oh! Right! She—Yuko, right?" Watanuki nodded. "Yeah, she told me to wait here for you."

Alfred peered over Alfred, noticing the other two people he was walking with. "I didn't know you were walking home with other people!" Lifting his hand in a greeting, Alfred grinned wider. "Hey, there! Nice to meet you!"

"Likewise." Domeki said shortly, and Himawari smiled which nearly made Watanuki faint from the brilliance of it.

"Ah! Are you a friend of Watanuki-kun's? It's nice to meet you!" Laughing sweetly like the chime of bells, Himawari was looking at Alfred so she was too busy to notice Watanuki fawning over her in the background.

At least, until he realized Alfred's words.

"Wait, what?" Blinking rapidly a few times, Watanuki tilted his head. "Wait for me? Why?"

"I dunno, didn't really pay attention." He flashed a grin as Watanuki slammed the palm of his hand into his forehead and laughed nervously.

"O-Ok, so you'll be walking with us then?"

"No."

Watanuki furrowed his eyebrows. "What? But I thought—"

"Yuko said that it'd only be us two." Alfred said, looking a bit apologetic to the three teens. "Sorry."

Inwardly, Watanuki cried.

"It's alright! See you tomorrow, Watanuki-kun!" Himawari's cheerful voice brought him out of his mental sulking, and all Watanuki could do was to sputter and hold his shaking army out as she walked away.

"B-But Himawari-chaaaannn!" He whined, watching as she walked off.

Then he felt something itching at the back of his neck. It _annoyed_ him. The only thing he knew that would annoy him right now would be…

"What are _you_ staring at?" He spat out at Domeki, who didn't move or blink or even _shift._ He seemed to be really concentrated on staring at Watanuki, his eyes narrowed a bit to make them look even more beady. Watanuki was beginning to get a little weirded out before those eyes shifted to Alfred for a few scant seconds.

Then, finally the golden-eyed boy began to walk off. "Croquettes." That was the last thing he said.

"YOU STUPID—! I DON'T TAKE ORDERS FROM YOU, I'VE ALREADY ESTABLISHED THAT! YOU UNCOUTCH, UNMANNERED CAVEMAN! JUST WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE, HUH? AND MIGHTY? WELL I'VE GOT NEWS FOR YOU, EYES! I'M NOT MAKING CROQUETTES TOMORROW!" Shaking his arms and legs in what looked like a weird dance to everyone else, Watanuki looked like a pissed off cat. A pissed off cat that just had freezing cold water dumped on it.

"Haha! You kind of remind me of Arthur, with the way you get angry!" Alfred exclaimed, and when Watanuki turned to face him already suspecting a grin at his face, he was a bit startled to find that the grin was not a grin but a _smile_ and if possible…It was brighter - _wider_ – than his grins.

"Arthur?" He asked, amazed at how happy the man sounded just simply saying the person's _name._

"Yeah," Alfred nodded, "He's an old friend of mine. A really old friend…" His smile became tinted with what seemed like melancholy, and his eyes became distant, like a cloudy day warning the oncoming signs of rain.

"Oh…" Watanuki murmured, and decided not to press the manner because some things were better left unsaid until it was _wanted_ to be said.

Noticing the abrupt silence that seemed to rein the spot they were in, Alfred's eyes brightened up again and he grinned now. It was amazing how you could tell the difference between his grin and his smile. His smile seemed much more genuine.2

"You know, your friend reminds me of Berwald."

"Who?"

"Berwald, this creepy Swedish dude. He's always so silent and his eyes are _reaaalllyyy_ tiny. He's really tall and intimidating."

"No wonder…" Watanuki mumbled, a grin quirking up at the fact that Domeki came across like that to Alfred.

"I was also wondering," The blonde began, and leaned forward to get a closer look at Watanuki who in turn leaned back and looked surprised at the sudden close proximity between them.

"W-What?" He asked, and began to relax and bend forwards again as Alfred stood straight again.

"Why are your eyes different colors?"

It was silent for a few moments as Watanuki's eyes widened.

Of course, of course he'd ask that question.

He gave a wry smile that wasn't really a smile at all because smiles were supposed to be _happy_ and gave a half-hearted, weak laugh.

"It's a long story…" He finally said, and as if without even thinking about it, his hand rose up to his right eye to self-consciously touch it.

All the while, Alfred stared at him, his eyes narrowing a bit as he became uncharacteristically serious at the teen's expression, because he _knew._ He knew, like Watanuki knew, that there were some things left unsaid unless they needed to be.

"It's getting dark!" Pointing to the sky, Alfred grinned as he changed the subject. He would pretend not to notice, pretend not to know because hey, he was used to acting that way. It was for the best most times, not to let the other person know you knew. He would pretend to not notice the feelings in the air, instead focusing on making things lighter or pretend that he didn't know any better.

Sometimes, ignorance was bliss.

"Oh, crap!" Watanuki yelled, his bi-colored eyes widening as he already felt the air around them drop and felt shivers up and down his spine. "W-We have to go, now!"

Confused by Watanuki's sudden change in behavior, Alfred decided it best not to question it because he too felt something…_strange_, and it didn't feel comfortable in the least. "Alright, lead the way, soldier!"

Briefly amazed at how the man could stay calm in a situation like this before remembering that he probably couldn't see spirits, Watanuki began to pick up his pace, glancing behind only to notice Alfred was gone before he noticed him at his side, matching him step for step.

"So, why the sudden change in pace?" The American asked, hands behind his head.

"I''m—uh…Yuko-san told me to get to the shop early today, and I need to hurry up before I'm in trouble!"

Well, at least half of it was true. Except he wished it wasn't.

"Oh, sorry…I've been told I talk a lot, and people are really annoyed by it…" Alfred confessed, looking guilty and very much like a kicked puppy.

"I-It's not your fault, really!" Before the seer had any chance to say anything else, however, he noticed a giant purple glob of mass from the corner of his eye, and that giant purple glob of mass began to approach them.

_Crap crap crap crap crappppp!_

It wasn't weird that a spirit showed up at night, and was chasing after him. The weird part was that it wasn't only looking at _him_ but it looked at Alfred too.

The weirdest part was that Alfred looked nervous – _paranoid_ - with his eyes darting back and forth and shivers running up and down his body every few seconds.

"Are-Are you ok?" Watanuki managed to huff out, running at full speed now with Alfred right next to him.

"Y-Yeah!" There was a crack in his voice, and his pitch went up a bit. "J-Just fine! It's..it's just a little chilly out, is all. Weird, huh? It's summer and not even full n-night-time yet, h-haha…"

Not exactly buying his bluff but not exactly having the time to ask either, Watanuki just nodded and looked back as he saw the giant blob chase after them still, along with a few new friends.

"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me!" He cried out, his skin crawling as he felt _something_ slide against his shoulder and engulf it, moving down his back and to his neck. "GET-OFF-OF-MEEEEEEE!" He yelled, flailing and squirming as he desperately tried to shake the spirit off.

"W-What's wrong?" By now, Alfred looked frightened, and he sure as hell _felt_ it too. Something didn't feel right…

It felt like he had just watched one of the scariest horror movies, and the electricity had gone out so he had no one to call to come over to his house and stay the night and there was this horrible noise in the back of his head—

Noise?

It wasn't his imagination after all. At least, he didn't think it was. There _was_ this noise in the back of his head, but he couldn't figure out what it was. Not that he wanted to, it gave him the chills if he concentrated on it.

"A-Are we almost there y-yet?" Great, his voice had nearly died out and he sounded pathetic. Him, _America_!

"A-Almost…!"

Looking over to his partner, Alfred noticed he didn't look so well and that his breathing was hard. He had slowed down a bit too, and shook and squirmed furiously as if trying to get something off. The more he stared, it seemed as if something was appearing, like—

_It's just the dark_ Alfred convinced himself stubbornly, and grabbed Watanuki's wrist to help him since he seemed to be having trouble.

Blinking as his eyes began to adjust more, Alfred saw the shop in sight and despite the feeling of fright being turned on a few notches higher ever since he grabbed Watanuki and something akin to weight being pushed down on him, Alfred only gripped the teenager harder (not enough to hurt, though!) and made his way to the shop, past the fence, to the door, and inside.

Amazingly enough, once he stepped inside the feelings he just had seemed to have quelled and vanished entirely.

He told himself it was because he was inside a house with other people in it, and not outside in the dark.

"Watanuki's back! Watanuki's back!" Maru and Moro chanted, holding hands and spinning in a circle as they laughed.

"Yo, Watanuki! Had fun?" Mokona hopped over to the pair, a knowing grin on his face.

"WHY YOU LITTLE-! YOU KNOW DAMN WELL I DIDN'T HAVE FUN! I JUST WENT THROUGH _HELL_ RIGHT NOW TRYING TO GET BACK HERE WITHOUT BEING EATEN!"

Having been catching his breath, Alfred looked surprised and in that moment of surprise dropped his clueless act. "What? _Eaten_?"

Watanuki's eyes widened as he realized his slip-up. "Oh—Uhm, I meant that—"

"I see the two of you have come back safely."

All eyes turned to the speaker and Watanuki's savior at this moment; Yuko.

He sighed in relief until something clicked in his brain.

"NO THANKS TO YOU!" He screeched, nearly hitting his head on the shoji in front of him.

"Now, now Watanuki. Is that any way to speak to your employer?"

"YOU ALMOST GOT ME KILLED!"

"Yes, then who would've cooked me my meals?" Yuko sighed wistfully.

"YUKO-SAN!"

"Relax, I made sure you two wouldn't be in any _real_ danger. If you both had simply gone here earlier, you wouldn't have had that much trouble, would you?"

"Well, no…But-"

"Now that's settled! Watanuki, get us some beer, will you? Oh, and cook us some good snacks, too!"

"MOKONA'S HUNGRRRYYY! FEED ME FEED ME!"

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME! I JUST GOT BACK NO MORE THAN THREE MINUTES AGO AFTER NEARLY BEING GOBBLED UP AND YOU WANT ME TO MAKE _FOOD FOR YOU_!"

"That's right! Hop to it, Watanuki! And make it quick!" Giggling like a schoolgirl, Yuko turned to Alfred who had been taking his shoes off and watched this all with an amused grin. "Now, Alfred, how about you and I have a little _chat_ on the patio, hmm?"

Blinking, Alfred steeled himself not to look at her…female body parts (which was pretty hard to do considering her choice of 'clothing'). "U-Uh, sure…" He stammered, getting up and following her while Watanuki practically had an aneurysm.

"THAT'S ALL SHE CAN THINK ABOUT! FOOD AND ALCOHOL! I NEVER GET ANY RESPECT AROUND HERE!" Stomping around angrily while putting on his coverall apron (_definitely _not the one from _Domeki_, NO WAY!) and his head wrap, the seer made his way to the kitchen while grumbling about having to deal with drunks and clean up their mess afterwards.

"What did he mean by 'eaten'?" The blonde asked, tilting his head to look over to Yuko.

"Exactly what it implies. If you two hadn't ran when you did, you would have been eaten. Both of you."

"But by _what_?" Alfred asked, confused. And it showed, with the way his brows were furrowed.

The shopkeeper's ruby eyes stared at him, past his skin, and into his soul. "You act as though you don't know."

A feeling washed over him like cold water being dumped on his body suddenly. "I...I don't know. I don't know what you're talking about." He said, his eyes becoming wide and dilated.

In a sense, he was telling the truth.

"You do. But you choose to close yourself off from the truth. You know what you felt, and you know what made you feel that way. But you don't _want_ to acknowledge it."

The feeling of cold water turned to freezing ice, right down to the core of his soul and mind.

"I-I just realized—I have to go do something right now, important business with my boss—I-I gotta go now." Standing up abruptly with his body language all wrong from his usual laid-back self, Alfred gave a quick bow and murmured a 'thank you for letting me stay here' before turning around and opening the doors.

He bumped into a surprised Watanuki, who nearly dropped the serving tray in his hands.

"Sorry, Watanuki." Alfred didn't even grin, only a small twitch of the lips, and his tone apologetic.

His eyes were troubled, shaken.

"It's alright…" Turning around as he watched the taller male go to the entrance hall and sit down on the dip to put his shoes on hurriedly, Watanuki wondered why he was so different all of a sudden.

He looked a bit different when they were walking (really running) back here, but nothing like _this_.

The only person he knew who could make people react like that was Yuko.

"I'll—I'll probably see you tomorrow, alright? Say hi to your friends for me! Bye!" Giving a half-hearted laugh that seemed more like a choke, Alfred turned on his heels and exited the shop.

"Alfred…" The teenager was left staring at the empty air where the American had just been.

"What happened? Why did he leave? He looked so shaken." Placing the ochoko down in front of Yuko, Watanuki waited for her answer.

"Think about it, Watanuki. Why did he look so frightened while you two were making your way here?"

"I don't know…He said it was dark." It seemed a little odd that someone with his strength and age, not to mention his _status_ in the world was afraid of the dark, but everyone had their thing.

"And you believed him?" Watanuki's employer raised an eyebrow.

"Well, no. Not really. But it could be possible—"

"Why were _you_ frightened?"

"Well that's obvious." Watanuki said dryly, nearly rolling his eyes. "There were spirits ready to gobble me up, of course. But what does that have to do with Alfred?"

"Alfred…He began to look frightened soon after you did, am I correct?"

The bespectacled boy was silent for a while as he remembered and—

"Yeah…" His eyes widened. Alfred…He couldn't possibly see _them_…Could he? "He can't really—"

"He can't." Shifting so that her legs were pulled up to the side while outstretched and her side was facing the front gate, Yuko made herself comfortable. "He can't see the spirits you can. Not yet, at least. But he can hear them. To a certain degree."

"What do you mean?" Her employee asked.

"He's closed himself off to that world. He wants nothing to do with it. He's frightened, that if he does acknowledge it, he won't be able to be in control of anything. Which is something someone like him fears. _Especially_ if you're him."3

"So you mean he can't see them..because he doesn't _want_ to?" Was that even possible? Watanuki didn't want to, either! But he still saw them!

"That's half of it. He also doesn't see them because he's convinced himself he can. Not just that, but he's convinced himself that they don't _exist_. All for the sake of being in control." Yuko sighed, and drank her cup of alcohol quickly. "Of course, not all can be perfect. He's made up of people. Millions of people. People who don't believe, and people who do. Not all who believe can see, but there are some who can. And it's those people who prevent him from not seeing them completely. Of course, it's those people who _can't_ see spirits that help him."

Clutching the serving tray tightly while it lay in his lap, Watanuki stared down at it, his eyes tracing each circle as he tried to understand what Yuko was saying.

"Then there's himself. There's a part of him that knows this, that hasn't been convinced. That part of him is the reason why he was frightened. Why he _gets_ frightened from things such as horror movies." Watching as Watanuki poured her another cup, she continued. "What he thinks is making him better is doing more harm than good. He becomes paranoid, restless, and bothers those around him. He causes pain to those who _can_ see, those close to him. Though he cannot see spirits right now, they can see him."

Two mismatched eyes widened. "So what you're saying is—"

"He has poisoned himself with this belief. And if he does not realize this and get rid of it soon, it will be too late."

Croquettes: a small fried food roll containing usually as main ingredients mashed potatoes, and/or minced meat shellfish, fish, vegetables, egg, onions, spices, or any of the combination thereof, sometimes with a filling, often encased in breadcrumbs. (Taken from wiki)

His smile seemed much more genuine: It's my theory that Alfred's grins are usually used to cheer people up or hide the fact that he knows what's going on (whether it be bad or good). It's his attempt at keeping things light when he knows they won't be. He grins a lot, and it's become a habit, so when he smiles it's completely genuine and shows how he really feels.

"He's closed himself off to that world. He wants nothing to do with it. He's frightened, that if he does acknowledge it, he won't be able to be in control of anything. Which is something someone like him fears. _Especially_ if you're him.": Another one of my theories. I think that Alfred _can_ see spirits, but just chooses not to because he feels as though if he acknowledges the fact they exist, he acknowledges the fact that they're completely different from what he's known his whole life and he can't be in control of situations if anything happens. No one knows this except for Yuko and now Watanuki. I've explained the rest in the story. ;3


End file.
